At Pony's Home, an old church and orphanage run by Miss Pony and Sister Mary, young Tom discovers that something is amiss outside. When Miss Pony and Sister Mary go outside to investigate, they find two abandoned babies, Annie and Candy White. Over the next decade, the girls become best friends who try to sabotage visits from possible future parents in order not to be adopted.

Annie thinks more and more about having parents. To console her, Candy takes her on a picnic without telling the Pony House where they are going. Candy just leaves a letter explaining that they will return before nightfall. During their journey, they are swept away by the current of a river but brought back safely to the Brighton house.

The Brightons pretend to have a barbecue at the orphanage to ask to adopt Candy, but she wants to stay with Annie so she forces them to change their mind, which makes them fall back on Annie who agrees to be adopted.

Candy's life is punctuated by the passage of the letter carrier, Mr. Mathieu: she harasses him to get letters from Annie. But one day, Annie, under the pressure of her adoptive parents, writes her a farewell letter. In her sadness, she wanders to the hill where she meets a young man in a Scottish outfit who encourages her and whom she calls her "prince of the hill".

Candy departs for Lakeweood together with her raccoon Klint. She hitches a ride with Tom and his father Mr. Steave on their wagon. Mr. Steave expresses his doubts about the Leagans and advises Candy to be strong and never cry. From the very moment of her arrival, Candy is the victim of the nasty pranks by the Leagan children, Neil and Eliza.

Candy wins the sympathy of the servants, but Daniel and Elisa continue to play nasty tricks on her. She hides Klint in the stable after trying to abandon him, but Daniel and Elisa take advantage of this to blackmail her. She runs away and meets a handsome boy at a flowery gate who reminds her of her prince from the hill, which encourages her to stay with the Legrands.

Candy attracts the wrath of the Legrands again and they punish her. So she decides to make an effort and become a real lady, but the Legrands want to make her a servant, so she runs away again and meets Archibald who is gallant.

Elisa takes Candy to the city, but only to be a carrier. Elisa abandons her there, but Candy meets Alistair who helps her to come back home very quickly despite some adventures. Candy is invited to the party that welcomes Aunt Elroy who is going to live here (and at which she hopes to find her prince), but only because of her new friends.

At the party, Elisa makes fun of Candy's outfit, but her friends put on casual clothes to support her. During Aunt Elroy's speech, Archibald makes Candy laugh, which brings shame on her. Archibald and Alistair make her a dress, and she gets a dance with Anthony at Elisa's expense.

Unhappy with Candy's performance, the Legrands move her to the barn, but Sister Maria and John come to visit her, so she must keep up appearances, despite Elisa's protests. But the visitors discover the truth and Sister Maria gives her recommendations. Anthony, in compensation for Candy's difficult life, promises her a special rose for her birthday.

The Brightons visit the Legrands, but Annie must not show that she knows Candy. She is offered a horseback ride, but a trick by Daniel and Elisa wraps up the horse, and Candy must go to Annie's rescue, who shows her friendship by giving her a ribbon.

Candy discovers roses in the barn, but ends up understanding that it is Daniel who wanted to anger Anthony by making her look like a thief. She implicates him, but he says that the cat scratched her hands and accuses Candy of having stolen the ribbon, which discredits her. She flees to the river where she is saved by Albert, a vagrant, to be brought back by her three friends who have discovered the truth. Anthony gives her a new variety of rose, tender Candy.

Neil attempts to poison the horses, however, a shadow rushes into the barn and punches him, before running out again just as Candy arrives. Eliza blames Candy for Neil's black eye at the first opportunity, and torn between his pride, Eliza's wishes and his mother's insistence, Neil elects to blame Candy. Candy realizes it must have been Albert.

Mr. Leagan returns home from a long absence to find Candy downgraded to a servant, and decides Candy deserves a holiday at Pony's Home. Once there, Candy learns their neighbor, Mr. Cartwright, sold Father Tree to the eccentric Mr. Flannigan from Washington. He wants the tree all to himself, because he believes it would surrender the best business ideas. Candy leads the orphans and farm animals into an insurgency against the workers preparing the cutting and transportation of the tree.

At the Leagans, Candy learns that Dorothy will be sent off to Mexico as an extra hand for the Ardley property. Mr. Leagan is absent again and cannot intervene. Anthony helps Candy to retrieve the horses Eliza and Neil chased out of the barn and compliments her on her lasso throwing skills. The Leagan children chased off the horses as a distraction, so they can frame Candy for thievery. As a result, Mrs. Leagan decides Candy will be sent to Mexico in Dorothy's place.

The day before leaving for Mexico, Candy wishes to say farewell to Anthony, but instead witnesses how Anthony denounces his great-aunt when she orders her cousins never to play with the "thief" Candy. It does Candy's heart much good that all three believe in her, but she does not want Anthony to lose his family over her. She will go to Mexico and write him each day.

Candy discovers that Garcia, her pilot, has a bad temper. She discovers in the cart a poor family who is also leaving for Mexico. She leaves once to find milk for the baby, then she "borrows" the cart to have him treated in the nearest town. To pay the doctor, she has to sell her rosebush, then the family leaves.

Candy saves Garcia from a snake bite and gives him her medallion, but he delivers her to bandits to save himself. Remorseful, he frees her, but she is kidnapped by a motorist.

Candy thinks she will be sold in Europe, but she manages to escape while her friends search for her. She arrives at the Rose Gate to discover that it is George who has kidnapped her, as Great Uncle William has decided to adopt her; the Legrands and Aunt Elroy can do nothing about it, as Uncle William is the absolute master of the Ardley family.

Candy now lives at the Ardley estate, together with the Cornwell brothers and Anthony and a closet full of dresses given by great-aunt Elroy. Neil and Eliza still try to persist in their lies and accusations, embarrassing great-aunt and provoking Anthony and the Cornwell brothers to remind them that Candy is a member of the family. When they make Neil beg on his knees for forgiveness, Candy stops them: without their deception, she would not have been sent to Mexico and Grandfather William would not have adopted her to save her.

To get back at Candy, Elisa takes Anthony into the woods and causes an accident with Tom who is carrying milk. Anthony brings Elisa, injured, back home, then fights with Tom who called him a coward. For this, Anthony is punished and confined in a castle in the woods with a ban on contacting Candy, who would have a bad influence on him.

Despite the ban, Anthony and Candy correspond, first by carrier pigeon, then by a balloon designed by Alistair, which arrives at Elisa's house. Aunt Elroy discovers that Anthony wants to participate in a rodeo and tries to dissuade him, but a clever campaign convinces her to let him participate. And Anthony wins the rodeo.

An incident reveals that the prize of the rodeo was a calf. Unable to keep it, Anthony leaves with Candy to find a way to get rid of it before managing to sell it to Tom's father. So they decide to spend their money on small pleasures, and visit the fortune teller who seems to see a bad omen for Anthony.

The bad omens are piling up but do not dampen Anthony's good mood. A fox hunt is organized to officially welcome Candy to the Ardley family. Candy and Anthony isolate themselves from the group, and as Anthony prepares to reveal the identity of Candy's prince, his horse catches his leg in a trap and throws his rider off, breaking his neck.

The whole family is in mourning, and Anthony is buried in the cemetery, Candy being relegated to the church. Aunt Elroy sees Candy as a bird of misfortune and Elisa accuses her of being responsible for Anthony's death. Finally, Candy decides to go back to Pony's house.

Candy spends her time moping at Pony's house, so Jimmy, a newbie, doubts her status as a leader and is unpleasant with her. Then he challenges her to running and climbing, ignoring that Candy excels in these disciplines. She wins, earning his esteem.

Christmas Eve promises to be gloomy for Miss Pony and Sister Maria, because Mr. Cartwright, their landlord, wants to enlarge his ranch by taking the house. Candy and Jimmy decide to persuade him not to do so. After a first approach which proves to be a failure, they take all the orphans, dressed as angels, to present their wishes to the men of the ranch. The orphanage is saved!

Mr. Cartwright has become a friend of Pony's house. He lends his cart so that everyone can visit Tom. He proposes to Candy to adopt him. Candy goes for a walk with Archibald and Alistair who tell her that they are leaving for England soon.

Candy declines Mr. Cartwright's offer. She feels the vocation of becoming a teacher, but George comes to seek her. She runs away in the rain with Jimmy, who is already sick and whose condition is getting worse. She is finally not mature enough to be a teacher, but watches over Jimmy until he recovers, then leaves with George.

Candy shows her altruism on the boat that takes her to England: she treats a seagull and then supports the captain who wants to deviate from his course to save shipwrecked people while the influential passengers are opposed to it. But her stubbornness and her good heart make them change their minds, so a party is organized for the captain who risked his place. On the rail, she sees a young man who looks like Anthony.

This young man goes from tears to laughter as Candy approaches him and makes fun of her. Archibald and Alistair come to pick her up and want to take Klint to the zoo because he will not be allowed to go to college. He runs away and is almost killed by a hunter. She goes to the hotel where she thinks she will meet Uncle William, but she finds this young man, Terrence, from a big family.

Candy gets Klint into St. Paul's College, but he gets her into trouble. The rules are very strict. She meets Patricia, but Elisa starts to bully her again and plays new tricks on her using Patricia who doesn't dare to oppose her. Finally, Terrence makes a scandal during the service of the mass. She discovers a hill which reminds her of her own.

Candy is quarantined by Elisa, but Patricia's grandmother steps up and pushes her granddaughter to bond with Candy, all the while wanting to experience life as a middle schooler in a strange way.

A bad trick of Elisa's turns against her, as she was making fun of Candy's letter. So, she sends Daniel and his cronies to take revenge on her, but Terrence intervenes. Alistair and Archibald invite Candy and tell her that Archibald had a fight with Terrence and that Annie will come to the school.

The Ardley's got permission to go out this Sunday and see Aunt Elroy, but Candy didn't request it, so she has to stay. So she joins Terrence at the hill. Then Mr. Brighton takes her to see the horse races and tells her that Annie is coming.

Candy soon learns upon arrival that her delivery trip is not going to be a quick in-and-out operation if Dr. Kreis and his daughter Karen have their way. Dr. Kreis introduces Candy to Karen, who is quite upset that Susanna landed the role for Juliet. Karen believes she is a far better actress and believes Susanna pulled some strings to get the part. As Candy plays the interested listener, she has done her job as confidante a bit too well. Karen decides to keep Candy in Florida. But to Candy's annoyance, Karen prays on her insecurities, claiming that Candy has already lost per definition from her rival Susanna, because actors who play Romeo and Juliet together often end up marrying each other. During the rehearsals for Romeo and Juliet, part of the lights come falling down and Susanna selflessly saves Terry at the cost of her leg that needs to be amputated in the operation room. The next day, Dr. Kreis finally gives his answer that Candy needs to return to Dr. Leonard and Karen will not hold her in Florida either anymore. Karen has already left for New York to replace Susanna. Candy is free to go.

Terry escorts Candy to her hotel room before he sets out for his final rehearsal. Terry wishes to be the most happy he can pretend to be and perform at his best for his Romeo part for Candy's sake who has traveled such a long way from Chicago. Before going home, he wishes her good night unnoticed from under Candy's window. But when he comes home, Terry finds a note from Susanna's mother who reproofs him for not visiting Susanna that day. He goes to the hospital, where her mother tells him that Susanna has started to smile again because of his daily visits. Susanna inquires after Candy, but soon tearful expresses her belief how happy they both must be and how lucky Candy is. The next day, Candy sets out for the theatre with flowers for Terry and encounters the Leagans at the entrance. In disbelief, Neil tears her ticket in pieces and Candy is denied admission.

Susanna disappears to the roof where she plans to commit suicide. Meanwhile Candy has arrived at Susanna's room and reads Susanna's suicide note. She finds Susanna on the roof and saves her from a deadly fall at the lost moment. First, Susanna begs her to let go of her, so that she will not be a burden for either Terry and Candy. In the face of so much sacrifice, Candy realizes she cannot make Terry suffer either. Terry arrives and settles Susanna back into her bed, while Candy weighs the events and emotions. Terry is unable to find any words to explain himself to Candy and can feel her mood as she goes to Susanna's room. In private, Candy tells Susanna that she is leaving for Chicago that same night. Terry runs after her, demanding to bring her to the station. He holds on to her for dear life and presses her close to him. Though Terry's love does her good, Candy knows that she must go. And so does Terry, wanting her to promise him that she will try her best to be happy.

While Candy kept strong all the way to the train station, Candy's emotions soon unravel into despair over losing her dream about Terry once aboard the train. She seeks a lonely spot in the aisle and opens the train's backdoor in the direction of New York, exposing herself to the snowstorm. Before long, with the onset of a fever Candy passes out. When Candy wakes next, she has recovered from her near pneumonia under the care in the Ardley mansion. But something is not right and when Candy presses the others while Patricia cries in her lap, Candy learns that Alistear has enlisted and is already in France. That was why Alistear was at the station acting so awkward; why he made her the music box and sounded so final in his farewell. As if that were not enough, great-aunt Elroy blames Candy for all the misfortune that has befallen the Ardleys: the death of Anthony, the disappearance of grandfather William and now Alistear having gone to France.

A hysterical neighbor wakes Candy to tell her what has become of Albert. Candy rushes over to Happy Clinic, a substandard medical facility, and the carefree but knowledgeable Dr. Martin, who does not seem to consider Albert's injuries very serious. Asleep, Albert recalls the details of the train accident that took his memory. Albert recognizes Candy right away when he wakes and Candy can take Albert back home. Candy drowns her heartbreak in a heavy workload, and even a stern taskmaster like Dr. Leonard wonders what has come over Candy. Archibald, Annie and Patricia pay Candy a lunchtime visit with news from Alistear on the boat to France where he will join the aerial force. When Archibald reads the part of the letter where Alistear enquires after Candy's visit with Terry and Annie starts to reads the newspaper that hails Terry as a new star, Candy's armor cracks and she confesses to them that Terry and her are over and that she wants to forget about him. So, when Dr.

En route to the Graytown construction site, the train is forced to halt because of Tom's cows passing across the tracks; When Candy recognizes him and reveals her destination, Tom advises her not to go to Graytown. He claims it are difficult conditions, not to mention full of criminals. He also tells her that Mrs. Pony is gravely ill. He helps Candy to a horse so she can ride to Pony's Home. As Candy crests Pony Hill, she comes across a cross claiming it as Mrs. Pony's resting place. But when Sister Mary finds Candy in tears she explains that a new boy Bob makes crosses of the people who are angry with him. Mrs. Pony is in perfect health, and Tom lied to divert her from Graytown and make her visit Pony's Home. Mrs. Pony and Sister Mary explain they let Bob make the crosses with names on it, because he takes pride in carpentering like his drunken father and is learning how to write. Candy orders Bob to make her signboard for the Graytown clinic. When Mrs.

When the orphans and Tom still hope to prevent Candy from going to Graytown, Mrs. Pony explains that Graytown still needs nurses, perhaps even more so in those poor conditions. Candy sets off towards Graytown and discovers Klint as a stowaway. After having been separated from him ever since she started nursing school, she will be reunited with him again. As the journey progresses, the numbers of travelers becomes less and less, until there is only one wagon left, with just Candy and a masked wanted criminal. The stationmaster does not care about Arthur's past who wishes to join the workforce and there is no sheriff. The stationmaster urges Candy to take the train back to Chicago, while he starts the mine train towards the construction site. Candy decides to jump in anyhow and discovers that the criminal is not that bad of a person, when he protects her from an avalanche of stones.

Even after a successful surgery, Candy finds that the men automatically assume that accidents are fatal and that a doctor is fed better than a nurse; She also discovers that Dr. Kerry is the sister of the wanted Arthur Kerry Candy took her for on the train. Arthur got into trouble after challenging a thieving administrator in a pet shop where he worked who fired him. While defending himself against an assault, the administrator was accidentally killed. And now Dr. Kerry is in search of her brother who as a fugitive most likely can be found at desperate places such as Graytown. Candy and Dr. Kerry learn that Arthur Kerry is in Chicago through Albert's doctor, Dr. Martin who used to work together with Dr. Kerry, Archibald and Annie who put two and two together after a letter from Candy with her first adventures at Graytown. Dr. Kerry takes a week of absence to find Arthur in Chicago. But now Candy is all alone and Nelson wants her gone.

Klint helps to free Candy from her bondage and help her escape the tunnel. When Nelsonn sends his dog McKinley on Candy, a masked man intercedes o her behalf, asking for work. Because Candy wants to treat a wound of his and Klint plays with his false beard, Candy recognizes him as Arthur. She promises him that his secret is safe with her and informs him that his sister will be back from Chicago soon and sends a letter to Archibald to explain Arthur is in Graytown. Meanwhile, Eliza who went snooping in Archibald's desk found Candy's closed letter as well as copies of Archibald's letters to Candy concerning Arthur. Seeing a possibility to turn Candy into a criminal for helping a fugitive murderer, she goes to the police with the information she has. When McKinley falls ill, Nelson needs Candy's help. She knows that Arthur studied as veterinarian and he manages cure the dog. Nelson rewards them with a hearty breakfast. On the train back to Graytown Dr.

McKinley finds Dr. Kerry who fell into the ravine and leads Arthur and Candy who went looking for him to the wounded doctor. Nelson and the workers help carry Dr. Kerry to the clinic. But when Candy has to undress the doctor, she has to reveal Dr. Kerry's gender to them. When Dr. Kerry gains consciousness and sees Arthur she warns him of the sheriff and marshall coming to capture him. But Arthur has nowhere to run anymore. The construction site and tunnel lead to a dead end. Unfortunately, Nelson overhears the conversation and takes Arthur prison. But the workers and Nelson who are grateful of Dr. Kerry wish to help Arthur escape. There is only one way to do that: finish the tunnel at record time. With a man-made avalanche they manage to stall the sheriff and marshall. Arthur and his sister escape, but the sheriff and the marshall have not come to Graytown for nothing.

Graytown is left without a cook. Candy does her best to do both Margot's job and her own, but even with Belle helping out, Candy realizes Nelson will take Belle into the city to find her a foster family and get a replacement cook, because Belle cannot stay in Graytown without a guardian. Meanwhile back in Chicago, Eliza's plot backfires: Arthur was not found, Candy is still free, somebody else was arrested, and Archibald catches her in his room with his mail. Nelson gives Candy the responsibility to find a foster family for Belle in Chicago, and because Candy cannot find it in her heart to tell Belle the truth, Belle thinks she is going to see her mother again. But Archibald and Annie arrive from Chicago volunteering to work as cooks until Margot can come back after her trial, and Candy persuades Belle to return to the construction camp. The workers never had such a fancy dinner, but Belle is not as easily appeased as she sneaks away.

Belle takes off with the small cargo train in order to catch the train to Chicago by herself. Hearing the steam whistle that Belle loves to sound, the workers, Annie, Archibald and Candy run outside and run after it. Candy is just in time to jump in the last wagon and climbs to the front from one to the other. But as the train gains speed and hits a curve, Candy is almost thrown off and can barely hold on. In order to save Candy's life, Belle decides to stop the train after all. When Eliza discovers the whereabouts of Annie and Archibald she uses her ties in Candy's hospital. Annie and Archibald are ordered back to Chicago, while Candy will be transferred to Alaska. Just as the three of them leave, Margot returns, exhausted but exonerated, allowing Belle to stay in Graytown. Candy returns to the construction site with the weakened Margot to take care of her as nurse. But Archibald and Annie continue to Chicago in order to use their own ties to protect Candy's work.

Candy visits Pony's Home during her holidays. When Mr. Cartwright visits the orphanage, he needs Candy's help: ever since a few soldiers visited the region and told tales about their trench war experiences, all Jimmy thinks about these days is wanting to be a soldier. He plays trench war games all day with the other orphans and leaves most of his farm chores undone. Jimmy demonstrates his rifle to the children and shoots it, causing an angry stampede with the passing cattle. Jimmy and the children can take cover, but Mrs. Pony and Mr. Cartwright run into the thicket of the stampede looking for the children. Mr. Cartwright is very lucky to survive, but this is not clear before Jimmy thinks he killed his father and rides of in tears on his horse. When Jimmy is relieved to see his father alive and realizes he caused the stamped, he decides to retrieve his honor by trying to catch one of the cows, risking his own life in doing something he is not strong enough yet to accomplish by himself.

Neil drives recklessly through town and wrecks his car. As always a good Samaritan, Candy bandages his scraped hand with her handkerchief. It is the second time that Candy has come to Neil's aid, and he believes himself to be falling in love with her. The next day, Neil tries to court Candy on the job by ordering her to go out with him. When this has no success he asks for advice from one of the maidservants who tells him that softness and kindness can go a long way. So, at Neil's next attempt he waits for Candy to finish her work, give her flowers and then reason she cannot refuse to go out with him, once she accepted the flowers. Candy solves the situation, by giving the flowers back to him. But Eliza witnessed the awkward exchange and is frightened to lose her partner-in-crime.

As the shock begins to subside, Dr. Leonard gets right to the heart of the matter for the reason of Candy's loss of her work: Candy's dysfunctional relationship with the Leagan family. Meanwhile, Albert collapses at work and when he wakes again finds he has recovered all of his lost memories. The first memories that come to mind are those of sweet Candy, and how they share the same apartment. Though first annoyed at having to drive Eliza's friend around, Neil looks upon it as an opportunity to make Candy jealous when he sees her walking in town. But she thinks he knows of what his mother has done, and in her anger makes a dent into his car. And when Eliza tells him of her and his mother's success over Candy, he finally sees them for what they are. Dr. Martin and Albert come across Candy pondering in the park at the same time a lion has escaped the zoo and is prowling them. Albert saves the day and the lion by using his talent to make animals trust him and gets hired by the zoo over it.

But it was a trap by Neil to lure Candy to an isolated, lakeside villa in an attempt to "win" her love. Candy repulses Neil's overtures, bellowing out her anger at his childhood persecution of her. Neil locks the villa doors and plans to hold her there until she tells him she loves him. But Candy plunges into the lake and swims away. On the way home, Albert who went looking for her in his new car meets her on the road. His gift, a new dress, is of much use now that she is wet through and through. When Albert lies about not knowing Neil, he realizes that their living arrangement is most awkward and cannot last after he declares himself healed. He just wants to enjoy her company for a little while longer. At Dr. Martin's an elderly couple who come to the Happy Clinic for a check up tell Candy not to trust Albert. He does not work, but sits in a bar all day where he meets with men in suits. Candy cannot believe it, but the Animal Institute tells her they do not know any Albert.

While Candy is still asleep, Albert steals away early in the morning, leaving behind a letter expressing his gratitude for everything she has done for him. Dr. Martin reveals Albert visited him early to say goodbye and left in a car with men in suits. Candy searches fruitlessly for Albert. Meanwhile Neil stands up to his scheming mother and Eliza and insists he loves Candy with all his heart and that the two of them will run away to be together. When Candy sees a church that reminds her of Pony's Home she enters to pray for Albert and discovers Patricia praying for Alistear in France. Patricia shares a letter from him with Candy, in which he describes the loss of his best friend at the front and his newfound enlightenment that war is a cruel thing. Candy remembers the music box Alistear made for her the last day she saw him and left for New York. To soothe Patricia's heart Candy gives it to Patricia.

Sitting alone in her now-empty apartment, Candy grapples for some kind of satisfactory perspective she imagines Albert would present if he were there to internalize the death of Alistear. She comes upon an advertisement in the newspaper about how the elusive Grandfather William is interested in coming above-ground, when Neil bursts in and tells her he wants to marry her. She begs him to leave her alone, but to no avail. Even when she reminds him that she cannot think well of him because of the lifelong pestering, he insists that one day Candy will change her mind. Mrs. Leagan refuses to consent to the idea of Neil marrying Candy, but Eliza realizes that the marriage would regain her power over her brother as well as make Candy unhappy. She appeals to her mother to make it a direct order from grandfather William when he presents himself to the family and world.

Candy is thunderstruck to discover that her benefactor "Grandfather" William Albert Ardley has been hiding in plain sight the whole time, ever since she was in anguish over Annie being adopted away from Pony's Home. Albert was too young to fill the desperately needed role of the head of the Ardley family, after his parents died and his aunt Elroy became his guardian, so he wisely applied the principle "Deceive your allies to fool your adversaries." As both recall memories of the past it becomes clear that Albert tried to be a guiding father to Candy as much as he could, while remaining hidden, not only from Candy, but all of the Ardley family. He adopted her as his daughter after Alistear, Archibald and Anthony did not want to put all their eggs in one basket by leaving it up to their great-aunt whether Candy was treated as a person or a pariah in the Ardley family. And Candy's eyes reminded him of his deceased older sister, Anthony's mother.